Fighting For The Angels

"If my understanding of predestination is not correct, then my sin is compounded, since I would be slandering the saints who by opposing my view are fighting for the angels." (RC Sproul, Chosen by God, pg. 14)

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John Wesley

"Answer all [the Calvinists'] objections, as occasion offers, both in public and private. But take care to do this with all possible sweetness both of look and of accent...Make it a matter of constant and earnest prayer, that God would stop the plague."

God’s Sovereignty

"God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, 'What doest thou?' Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so." A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God

James Arminius

"Besides, even true and living faith in Christ precedes regeneration strictly taken, and consisting of the mortification or death of the old man, and the vivification of the new man...For Christ becomes ours by faith, and we are engrafted into Christ, are made members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, and, being thus planted with him, we coalesce or are united together, that we may draw from him the vivifying power of the Holy Spirit, by which power the old man is mortified and we rise again into a new life." [Works Vol.2 pg. 233, Wesleyan Heritage Collection].

This provides the initial definition of ‘believe’ by equating it with ‘receive.’ When we accept a gift, whether tangible or intangible, we thereby demonstrate our confidence in its reality and trustworthiness. We make it part of our own possessions. By being so received, Jesus gives to those who receive him a right to membership in the family of God.

‘Become’ indicates clearly that people are not the spiritual children of God by natural birth, for we cannot become what we already are. This verb implies a change of nature. The word children (tekna) is parallel to the Scottish bairns– “born ones.” It emphasizes the vital origin and is used as a term of endearment (cf. Luke 15:31). Believers are God’s ‘little ones,’ related to him by birth.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, pg. 32)

The implications are obvious. The new birth is received by faith and we become God’s children through faith. John 1:12 simply cannot be made to comport with the Calvinist claim that regeneration precedes faith. Indeed, it proves that contention false.

One Response

Excellent point….Equating gift believe with receive. Yes, in Calvinism, one does not “receive” the gift, in the indeterministic, sense as an autonomous individual..the gift is involuntarily implanted into the person. Once the gift is implanted, it functions to alter voluntary choice. This follows the model of monergism.

But I feel I’ve discovered a significant key for understanding the psychology of Calvinisms, which was pointed to by William Lane Craig. Calvinism incorporates *AS-IF* thinking/speaking/writing.

The Calvinist is to:
1) Believe [A]: That *ALL* things (without exception) are determined in advance by god, such that all choices are “NOT UP TO US”.

While at the same time:

2) Speak and write *AS-IF* [A] is not true. (i.e. to speak and write AS-IF man has a degree of autonomy, where choices “ARE UP TO US”

Dr. Craig ascribes this to Calvinism’s psychology, and it is actually taught by Calvin himself. This psychology of double-think serves two purposes.

1) It allows Calvinism to retain a form of credibility within general Christianity, by speaking determinism out of one face, and indeterminism out of another.
2) It allows the individual Calvinist to assume God’s intentions as always benevolent, while his theology dictates the opposite.